Our cities are hidden power stations

Photo: pixabay.com

Our freezers and IT server rooms can be used to heat up our houses. New research shows how waste heat is a step towards a greener future.

Results from the Norwegian research organization SINTEF shows how efficient waste utilization actually is. Our waste can be transformed into compact “urban power plants”, efficient enough to supply entire households. The energy can be distributed through low-temperature district heating grids.

“The results from our modelling studies demonstrates that by installing a low-temperature district heater grid, it is possible to reduce heat losses by a third”, explained SINTEF researcher Hanne Kauko to the research news page Gemini. This also enables us to reduce our use of fossil fuels in the primary district heating grid, Kauko continued.

SINTEF and the Central Pollution Control Board in India have collaborated with projects regarding waste heat and co-processing initiatives in India since 2010.